TUESDAY QUOTE

"I cannot rest, I must draw, however poor the result, and when I have a bad time come over me it is a stronger desire than ever." ~ Beatrix Potter

JANUARY DATES

• January 3 (1892): J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday (author and linguist)


• January 4 (1785): Jacob Grimm's birthday (of the Brothers Grimm)


• January 6 (1856, but could be later): Sherlock Holmes' birthday


• January 14 (1898): Lewis Carroll's birthday (author of Alice in Wonderland)


• January 18 (1882): A.A. Milne's birthday (author of Winnie the Pooh)


• January 19 (1809): Edgar Allan Poe's birthday (author)


• January 22 (1901): End of the Victorian Era


• January 22 (1901): Beginning of the Edwardian Era

TUESDAY QUOTE

"In my world, it's not only Christmas that is made of magic. Magic is for every day." ~ Wendy Addison

Painting Update

Greetings,

Here is another update (wip) of the piece, Tea with Gargoyles.

As you can see, there's been a bit more development -- A few things more fleshed-out. The background is complete. The foreground need more touches, but they'll have to wait until the frog is more developed.

I will keep you all up to date with another picture, soon. In the mean time, I am trying to get the pre-work done on the NEXT piece (including deciding on WHICH piece will be next).

TUESDAY QUOTE

"I sell the shadow to support the substance." ~ Sojourner Truth

Painting Update

Greetings,

It has come to my attention that I have been remiss about painting updates. Here is another picture on the piece, Tea With Gargoyles.

As you can see, I've finished the lay-up on the puzzle board, transferred it to illustration board, underpainted, and have finished much of the background. I have also started laying-in some of the foreground.

I will try to get additional WIP updates, as they come in.

TUESDAY QUOTE

"The place is changed now, and many familiar faces are gone, but the greatest change is myself. I was a child then, I had no idea what the world would be like. I wished to trust myself on the waters and the sea. Everything was romantic in my imagination. The woods were peopled by the mysterious good folk. The Lords and Ladies of the last century walked with me along the overgrown paths, and picked the old fashioned flowers among the box and rose hedges of the garden." ~ Beatrix Potter

TUESDAY QUOTE

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house" ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

DECEMBER DATES

• December 16 (1775): Jane Austen's birthday (English novelist of romantic fiction)



• December 16 (1770): [potentially] Ludwig van Beethoven's birthday (German composer and pianist)



• December 22: Winter begins



• December 30 (1865): Rudyard Kipling's birthday (English poet, short-story writer and novelist)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

May everyone find a very happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy all that is about you, and share it with others.

TUESDAY QUOTE

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was , 'thank you', that would suffice." ~ Meister Eckart

DIY GOGGLES

Greetings,

Here is a simply WONDERFUL pair of goggles, that you can make for yourself. The instructions seem very well thought out and helpful.

Please don't let unknown skills keep you from giving them a try. Remember, the more skills you learn, the more wonderful TOYS you can make for yourself!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Steampunk-spectacles/

And while you're there, check out the many, MANY other fine things that there are to make.

TUESDAY QUOTE

"That which is loved is always beautiful." ~ Norwegian Proverb

TUESDAY QUOTE

“Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.” ~ Jane Austen, Emma

HAPPY GUY FAWKES NIGHT!

HAPPY GUY FAWKES NIGHT!

Remember, remember the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I see of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

TUESDAY QUOTE

“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know were they’ll take you.” ~ Beatrix Potter

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
HAPPY SAMHAIN!
HAPPY ALL SAINTS!

NOVEMBER DATES

• November 5: Guy Fawkes Night


• November 8 (1847): Bram Stoker's birthday (author of Dracula)


• November 13 (1850): Robert Louis Stevenson's birthday (author of Treaure Island)


• November 29 (1898): C. S. Lewis' birthday (author of the Narnia series)

OCTOBER DATES

• October 22 (1882): N. C. Wyeth's birthday (American artist and illustrator)


• October 22 (1882): Edmond Dulac's birthday (French book illustrator)

SEPTEMBER DATES

• September 19 (1867): Arthur Rackham's birthday (English book illustrator)


• September 21 (1866): H. G. Wells' birthday (English author)


• September 24 (1936): James Maury "Jim" Henson's birthday (puppeteer, bringer of magic) (Jim, we miss you so much...)

AUGUST DATES

• August 20 (1890): H. P. Lovecraft's birthday (American horror author)


• August 30 (1797): Mary Shelley's birthday (British author, best known for Frankenstein)

JULY DATES

• July 10 (1856): Nikola Tesla's birthday (Serbian inventor, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, and subject of several luscious conspiracy theories)


• July 24 (1860): Alphonse Maria Mucha's birthday (Czech art nouveau painter and decorative artist)


• July 25 (1870): Maxfield Parrish's birthday (American neo-classical painter and illustrator)


• July 28 (1866): Beatrix Potter's birthday (English illustrator, and author of the much-loved, The Tale of Peter Rabbit)

"Smaller Side Pieces"

Here are WIP's of, a couple of, the "Smaller Side Project" that have taken me away from the Tea With Gargoyles piece.

The First is a WIP for Poinsettia Imp

The second, a WIP for Origami Faerie

Both are now out of the WIP (work in progress) stage, completed, and will be available in the upcoming future through my Zazzle store

Tea With Gargoyles cont.

Greetings, good folk.

It has been too long since I last updated you on my Tea With Gargoyles piece. Well, there is a good reason; it had been shelved for a bit, in order to do several smaller side pieces. TwG is, however, back on the board! Truly!

Here is a WIP showing where the piece stands, today. Bare with me, and I promise to give regular updates as it (hopefully quickly) progresses.

JUNE DATES

• June 10 (1928): Maurice Sendak's birthday (American author and illustrator of children's literature, such as Where the Wild Things Are)


• June 20 (1837): Start of the Victorian Era

MAY DATES

• May: Bilbo starts his journey as a burglar-for-hire


• May 6 (1910): End of the Edwardian Era


• May 9 (1860): Sir James Matthew Barrie's birthday (Scottish novelist and playwright, known best as the creator of Peter Pan)


• May 22 (1859): Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday (Scottish physician and author, known best for his Sherlock Holmes stories)

APRIL DATES

• April: An uneventful hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, was first visited by the wizard, Gandalf, and his journey as a burglar-for-hire, bagan.

MARCH DATES

• March 2 (1904): Dr. Suess' bithday
• March 8 (1859): Kenneth Grahame's birthday (author of The Wind in the Willows)
• March 14 (1879): Albert Einstein's birthday (thinker, mathematician, tongue-sticker-outer)
• March 20 (1938): Fred McFeely "Mister" Rogers' birthday (educator, minister, songwriter, television host, nice man) (Mister Rogers......... thank you)

Spring is Coming!

It is. Truly! O, I am not trying to rush the seasons, but, as every good gardener knows, Spring creeps up faster than you realize! So NOW would be the time to plan for your upcoming garden.

Perhaps you are ahead of the game, and have already sharpened your tools of war - shovels, hoes, spades..... But! What to plant, what to plant. If lucky, colorfully glossy gems of catalogs have already started trickling their way into your mail. WONDERFUL! Take a moment, over a cup of tea (and some buttered seed cakes, of course) to open your gardening journal........ and DREAM! Fill your snowy-day thoughts with a child-like joy of colors, and smells, and tastes, AND, above all, POSSIBILITIES. Possibilities of things you can add to this year's upcoming garden. O, the total magic of it all!

Take time. TAKE TIME! And loose the kaleidoscope of sylvan splendor. Ponder butterfly, bud, and fae. Go. GO! Are you still here?

FEBRUARY DATES

• February 22 (1925): Edward Gorey's birthday (artist)
• February 24 (1786): Wilhelm Grimm's birthday (author, and one-half of, The Brothers Grimm)